TLDR: Deep Water (2022)
This erotic thriller isn’t very erotic or very thrilling.
Plot: Vic and Melinda Van Allen are a couple in the small town of Little Wesley. Their loveless marriage is held together only by a precarious arrangement whereby, in order to avoid the messiness of divorce, Melinda is allowed to take any number of lovers as long as she does not desert her family.
Direction: Adrain Lyne is no stranger to erotic thrillers with a resume that includes Fatal Attraction, Lolita, Indecent Proposal, and Unfaithful. Even if this isn’t his best work, it’s nice to have him back after a 20 year hiatus. He’s a master of a genre that doesn’t really exist anymore, so maybe this return will spark something in the film landscape.
Performances: Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas were the perfect choices for this movie. Ana, for clear reasons. And Ben, well, let’s be honest, for clear reasons as well. Sometimes an actor is so perfectly paired with a role so that they don’t have to do much in the perfect way. Ana smirks, Ben frowns, and all is right with the world.
Screenplay: If you had told me the climax of the Ana de Armas cucking Ben Affleck movie involved a bicycle, I would not have believed you.
Cinematography: It’s got a little of the blue/green/black/brown green sludge, but not too much. And it almost works for this movie anyway.
Best moment: Take a guess.
Imaginary accolade: Best Casting of 2022 So Far
Everything is too long. Is it too long? We were definitely checking our watches during the last 30 minutes. Every 120 minute movie could and should be 90 minutes.
Rating: Three slugs used for a bizarre metaphor out of five.
Credit: Plot synopsis from Letterboxd via TMDb.
